The Devil card is another of those cards that should be addressed right away when you are doing a reading. Even if the person you are reading for knows nothing about the Tarot – or maybe because they know nothing, a lot of assumptions are made when this card falls in front of them. It frightens them immediately. The Rider/Waite/Smith deck shows a rather imposing devil figure with ram’s horns, donkey ears, bat wings and clawed feet. His face is pink and his right arm is raised with the astrological glyph for Saturn in the palm – the planet of limitations. He is perched on a one-dimensional cube. There are two figures before him – a man and a woman – with cloven feet, horns and tails. They are chained loosely to the cube. This card’s symbolism suggests the perverse gratification humanity receives through material attainment rather than spiritual fulfillment. All evil in the world is enacted because somebody wants something someone else has – money, position, relationship, property, land, ideals, ideas, innocence, power. It is fueled by greed, jealously, desire, pleasure, escape, hate, or fear. Human beings are addicted to the material world. It is hard for us to identify with what we cannot experience with our senses – the spiritual. This addiction manifests on many levels but it is all tied to Materialism, Today’s Journey Tarot’s title for this card. Key 15 shows a party where the host is on a sofa preparing drugs for his guests – who are obviously in various stages of inebriation. It expresses the futility of excessive gratification in modern terms that we can all understand at a glance.

Teresa Sue McAdams, co-creator of “Today’s Journey Tarot”, co-author of “Today’s Journey Tarot, A Traveler’s Guide”, co-author of “Tarot Meditations, A Journal for Self Discovery”, and author of “Lessons, The Wisdom Within Each Moment”

www.todaysjourneytarot.com

One of the issues with the Rider/Waite/Smith deck is that it is over one hundred years old. That does not diminish its beauty or effectiveness but a lot has happened in the last century that may change the way we view images and words. For example, the word temperance is often used to suggest a need for curbing a negative habit, like overindulgence. When I look at this beautiful card, that word is a distraction. We have the Archangel Michael glorious with outstretched wings pouring from one cup to another. There is something illuminated rising behind him – a light perhaps or a crown. He has one foot in the water and one on dry land. These symbols and the rest in the card suggest a need for balance and good judgment. Today’s Journey Tarot chose to symbolize this concept with a costumed acrobat walking a tightrope. We call the card Discernment. Walking a tightrope requires focus, balance of course, and very good judgment. She must put one foot in front of the other as we all do in life, but retain the qualities to maintain harmony. Her discernment keeps her balanced and safe. We indulged in a bit more symbolism in this card with the owl costume (wisdom) and the two toned balance bar (the esoteric and the mundane which she must also keep in balance).

Teresa Sue McAdams, co-creator of “Today’s Journey Tarot”, co-author of “Today’s Journey Tarot, A Traveler’s Guide”, co-author of “Tarot Meditations, A Journal for Self Discovery”, and author of “Lessons, The Wisdom Within Each Moment”

www.todaysjourneytarot.com

 The Death card is a very scary card. Most people I read for gasp when it falls in a reading. I quickly explain that the card does not mean death but change and transformation, but I suspect many people still fear that impending doom is imminent. Besides its title, the images on the Rider/Waite/Smith card are also scary and confusing. The main symbol is a skeleton dressed in armor and riding a white horse. He holds a black banner. The horse appears to be stepping over the body of a fallen king. There is also a priest, child and maiden, and a sun rising/setting between two pillars. When these images are studied and understood the meaning of the card becomes clear but Expanding Dimensions, the creators of Today’s Journey Tarot, chose to demystify the symbols and depict an image that would not instantly invoke fear. We call our card Transition and it shows a beautiful golden bridge surrounded by clouds. It still conveys the idea that changes are occurring and that transformation takes place as we cross from one idea, place, cycle, or whatever is occurring in our lives. Does it ever express physical death? Death is definitely a transition. But in Key 13, Transition leads to a renewal of the spirit, not a dark and scary place.